China’s designs for a greater role in the Arctic could be built on Canadian resources.
Chinese firms have invested over $400 million in northern Canada through various mineral and petroleum projects, while the Chinese government tries to simultaneously edge its way into the region’s key governance body, the Arctic Council.
While most of these deals are small, the resource sector is intiminately linked to the larger policy questions facing Arctic nations, which range from environmental protection to shipping corridors. If China gains influence in Artic affairs in the coming years, the impacts could be felt in Canada’s northern backyard.
“They have demonstrated that they will play hardball politics in terms of their interests,” said Rob Hubert, an associate professor at the University of Calgary who tracks China’s economic and strategic creep into the Arctic.
Ottawa enacted new restrictions on the foreign ownership of oilsands and other sectors in early December, signalling that the Asian powerhouse’s interest aren’t always concurrent with Canada’s.
Yet the two countries are engaged in a “strategic partnership,” an economic relationship that has a don’t-ask, don’t-tell approach to issues with more friction like human rights and foreign policy.
It’s a balancing act in constant evolution and the North — filled with oil, gas and minerals that could one day be feeding Chinese homes — is one place where the relationship could one day get icy.